Morning briefing Tuesday 7th October

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwCWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up. So how do business leaders cut through the noise and focus on what really matters? PwC takes you further with tech, from optimising the systems that put your data to work, to scaling AI from proof of concept to competitive edge. PwC helps you meet tomorrow's tech demands so you can compete at a speed that rewrites the rules. Discover more at pwc.co.uk This is the Times Morning Briefing for Tuesday 7th October. Indirect peace talks taking place in Egypt between Hamas and Israel are expected to continue later on what is the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks.

0:48Speaking in the White House last night, Donald Trump said a deal would be reached soon and praised the work of regional powers in pushing ahead with ceasefire plans. I spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey. He's fantastic. He's been pushing very hard. He's a very powerful guy. Hamas has a lot of respect for him. They have a lot of respect for Qatar. They have a lot of respect for UAE and Saudi Arabia. We have everybody who's on our side to get this deal done. Part of the initial ceasefire agreement would include the return of Israeli hostages. Another would see Hamas give up their claim to run Gaza post-war.

1:23The president said they would face complete obliteration if they didn't, although that's easier said than done. Dr Lynette Nuzbacher is a military historian and former army intelligence officer. It's really hard to destroy Hamas. The Israelis used to kill the chief of Hamas every week and Hamas would promote somebody new. They're a durable organisation. So it is a non-trivial task to destroy them. Sakhir Starmer is urging students not to take part in un-British protests. Pro-Palestine events are due to take place in towns and cities across the country later, held at the same time as Jews worldwide commemorate the victims of the Hamas attacks.

2:06He's accused those protesting of a lack of respect for others, urging police to use the full force of the law. The Home Secretary is looking into whether restrictions can be put on repeated protests, something Mike Neville, a former detective chief inspector with the Met Police, agrees with. I support the right to protest but it's going to be balanced against the right for people to live live safely in London and I know many Jewish people are afraid of going to London for example on a Saturday afternoon. There are critics though who say it'd be unworkable and the government is putting the onus on the police to take the lead instead of taking control themselves.

2:47Tariq Ali is a political activist and writer. Scotland the art shouldn't agree to this because the decision is a political decision that's got nothing to do with law and order. If the government wants to ban a march, it obviously has the powers to do so, but then the decision belongs to the government. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are set to announce they'd give police sweeping powers to stop and search anyone in 2 ,000 areas of the country which have the highest crime rates. It would see police for the first time allowed to search people without first having grounds for suspicion. Children face an avalanche of sexual exploitation and abuse behind closed doors, a study by Scottish researchers has found.

3:34A wide-ranging analysis suggested 7 % of children across Western Europe are raped or sexually assaulted before they turn 18. This suggests nearly 15 million children across Western Europe are affected. And autumn is set to bring an abundance of acorns, conkers and hedgerow fruit this year after initial concerns over impacts from the hot summer and drought. Experts from the National Trust say the UK is seeing a mast year, a phenomenon occurring around once every four years, in which certain tree species produce unusually high numbers of nuts and berries. And that is your Times News Briefing.

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